New .au direct names will launch on 24 March 2022.
We are encouraging our clients to protect their brand and website by registering for the .au direct equivalent of their current domains when registrations open.
The new .au direct domains will allow you to have a shortened domain such as creativechaos.au
From 24 March 2022, you can apply:
- to register new .au direct names that are not already registered in the .au registry (i.e. names are not registered in any existing .au namespace such as com.au or org.au etc.) and;
- for the exact match of any existing .au domain name you are the existing registrant of. These names will be allocated according to the “Priority Allocation Process”.
Registering new .au direct names
From 24 March 2022, you’ll be able to register new .au direct names.
These are names that are available to the public on a first come, first served basis as long as they are not already registered in any other .au namespace e.g. com.au, or org.au.
Registering the exact match of an existing .au domain you hold
Registrants of existing com.au, net.au, org.au, asn.au, id.au, gov.au and edu.au domain names will be able to register to purchase the corresponding direct .au domain by applying for their equivalent .au domain during the Priority Allocation Process, which runs from 24 March to 20 September 2022.
Exact matches will be put on Priority Hold for the Priority Application Period to prevent them from being registered by others and to enable existing registrants the first opportunity to register (Priority Status) the exact match of their existing domain names.
E.g. If you are the registrant of getyour.com.au you will have six months to apply for getyour.au, if you would like to licence it.
In most cases you’ll be able to register and begin using your matching .au direct domain name soon after you apply for it.
In some cases there may be more than one applicant for the same .au direct domain name as there are different registrants that hold the same domain name licence in different namespaces.
For example:
- Tina is the registrant of getyour.com.au
- Gene is the registrant of getyour.net.au
Both are registrants eligible to apply for getyour.au and the final owner will be determined by the Priority Allocation Process which will assess whether one owner has more of a “right” to be awarded the direct .au domain.
The following diagram shows how this process will work:
Priority Allocation Process
Applying to register your matching .au direct name is optional and has no effect on your existing .com.au, .net.au, .org.au domain names. Your existing domain name registrations will continue to operate as it does today, provided you keep your registration up-to-date.
